Name/Title
Print, PhotographicEntry/Object ID
1984.001.0122Description
These photos were taken from pages of a photo album that had been stored in a 3-ring binder. The pages from the album are scanned as a page and then individual photos, when there are multiple photos on a page, are scanned separately. Each page has a number and the photos from that page are shown with the same number and followed by a letter.
B/W photograph of the first Japanese death, that of Okei, nursemaid, to the man responsible for the first Japanese colony in California. In 1869 John Henry Schnell brought about nine Japanese then later another sixteen followed including Okei. They started a silk and tea adventure called Wakamatsu Farm at Gold Hill Ranch in Gold Hill near Coloma. After two years it proved a failure. There is a booklet in my collection that gives full details. Okei was eighteen years old at the time of death. This grave has been marked as a California Historical Landmark, January 24, 1969, during Centenniel of the first Japanese colony.Collection
Benicia Historical Museum Collection
